


Maple Syrup Sweet

by linumlea



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, hand holding, very important meatbuns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-28 04:34:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11410326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linumlea/pseuds/linumlea
Summary: 'Kageyama's next set was fine and Hinata turned back, satisfied.“I refuse to believe they know each other less than two years,” Ennoshita said out loud.'Relationships undergo a lot of changes.





	Maple Syrup Sweet

He exhaled, heavy and hot, a drop of sweat running down his forehead. Thump! The ball on the other side of the court went flying and he kept his eyes on it, unblinking. It swerved at the last moment and he let it go past him, right beyond the bounds. The whistle blew; the match ended.

“Nice!” Ennoshita said, his thumbs up. Hinata grinned back and turned to walk out of the court when Kageyama materialized in front of him.

Kageyama had a weird, concentrated expression on his face and Hinata instinctively took a step back. Kageyama’s hand lurched forward; Hinata had no time to duck-

“Good job,” Kageyama said and patted Hinata on the head.

When the weight of Kageyama’s hand disappeared and Kageyama walked away, Hinata blinked. He touched the place where Kageyama’s hand had laid a moment ago and glanced after Kageyama, eyes wide and brows drawn.

 

Behind the gym there was a nice, quiet spot, under the shadows of maple trees. Even during summer, when the scorching sun was unrelenting, they could count on the coolness below the whispering treetops.

Kageyama was sitting there during lunch, leafing through a magazine and looking just a bit sour, so Hinata skipped from the pavement and onto the grass.

“Whatcha reading?” he asked as he threw himself next to Kageyama and leaned into him to peek at the magazine. Sure enough, it was sports.

“They interviewed Ushijima-san on his workout routines.” Kageyama pointed at one of the articles.

Hinata knocked their shoulders to get a better view. “Three hundred push-ups a day? _Minimum_?”

“Check out the plank regime.”

Hinata hummed and leaned in further. Somewhere back on the path, someone giggled. Lost in reading, he only looked up when he heard Kageyama make a low sound in his throat.

Kageyama was glaring. Not at Hinata though, no - his eyes were shooting daggers at two girls on the pavement who were staring at them and hiding snickering behind their hands.

Hinata frowned. He looked down at his palms where they rested on the grass millimeters from Kageyama’s thigh. At his knees so close to Kageyama’s own.

Hinata’s stomach turned to ice and his skin flamed. He flung himself back and tucked his legs against his chest. “Sorry,” he said, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. He started to pick at the grass blades, ripping them into tiny pieces.

The glossy paper crackled when Kageyama’s hands clenched. “It’s fine,” Kageyama said, voice suggesting otherwise.

 

They went to the shop at the bottom of the hill after practice. Noya and Tanaka were rushing the whole team to get there before the baseball club so they all had to almost run.

In the shop Kageyama eyed the meatbuns and sighed just so. Hinata tilted his head.

“Not getting anything?” he asked.

“I’m saving up.”

“For what?”

“Worn down the second volleyball in three months.” Kageyama shrugged. Hinata rubbed the back of his neck and checked his purse.

Kageyama made a really weird face when Hinata stuck a meatbun in front of his nose outside the shop. Their teammates were already halfway down to the crossing.

“What is this?”

“Meatbun. Eat up and be grateful.”

“Like hell-”

Hinata forced it into Kageyama’s hand and started down the road to catch up.

It was only when Noya started asking what has been taking him and Kageyama so long that Hinata belatedly realized Kageyama had been waiting for him and had let their teammates go on ahead.

 

“Something is wrong with Kageyama.”

Hinata turned to where Ennoshita has been whispering with Tanaka, both watching Kageyama who was setting for the first years - the volleyballs went too low and too high, and refused to listen to Kageyama at all. Kageyama’s face could’ve been carved from stone, it was so cold and lifeless.

“You think he is sick?”

“Damn, I hope not, we can’t afford to lose anyone right now-”

They both stopped whispering immediately when Hinata slalomed between them and jump-served a ball straight at the back of Kageyama’s head.

The gym went silent. The first years gasped and Yamaguchi had flailed his receive so bad he got hit in the face. Noya froze crouched on the floor.

Kageyama pivoted and zeroed in on Hinata. His fists shook at his sides.

“Sorry,” Hinata said, thinking his voice sounded peculiarly loud. “I couldn’t think of anything else. Kageyama, whatever it is, it’s temporary.”

Kageyama stopped mid-step. His shoulders relaxed.

“Hit me one more time and you won’t live to see another day,” he said to Hinata and waved at the first years. “Sorry, continue.”

His next set was fine and Hinata turned back, satisfied.

“I refuse to believe they know each other less than two years,” Ennoshita said out loud.

 

When he threw the doors to the teachers’ lounge open and saw Kageyama there, Hinata faltered. They eyed each other as Hinata approached.

The teacher sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Hinata-kun, Kageyama-kun, if you fail one more test I swear there won’t be anything I could do to not hold you back a year. I understand, volleyball, teenager stuff, all of that - but your teammates are all managing, so do something. Come ask for more explanations, ask friends for help, anything. Just, study so I have something to work with. Or there will be no volleyball. Am I clear?”

They both nodded silently.

Outside, out in the corridor brimming with students, Kageyama shuffled his feet. “Wanna stay behind and study today? We could ask Yachi-san for help.”

Hinata inhaled. “Yeah,” he said. They started down the corridor. In front of his classroom, he stopped briefly. “Kageyama-” he started, tucking his hands into his pockets “- we are both dumb, aren’t we?”

“Speak for yourself.”

“Yeah.” Hinata laughed. “Yeah, I guess.”

He was taking a step inside the classroom when Kageyama grabbed his sleeve.

“You’re not dumb,” Kageyama said. Two of Hinata’s classmates passed them, and Kageyama let go. “You aren’t.”

Hinata’s chest felt lighter. “Okay.”

 

Kageyama’s house looked so modern and large, compared to Hinata’s. Even the garden was neat and well-kept, with each plant staying precisely where it was supposed to.

Back at Hinata’s, there were garden chairs and tools and toys all over the place.

“Sorry to intrude!” Hinata called as soon as they walked in. The hallway was bare save for a contemporary painting that Hinata stared at for a few seconds, unable to discern what it showed, and two pairs of house shoes.

Someone leant out of the doorway down the hall. “Tobio, did you bring a friend?”

Before Kageyama could respond, a middle-aged woman was already grabbing for Hinata’s hands, shaking them up and down. Her smile was so warm Hinata had no problem returning it. Kageyama had her eyes, and her ears too; though Hinata thought it might have been a weird thing to notice.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Are you Hinata? You must be Hinata. Tobio has been telling us about his team and he mentions you a lot.”

“Mom.”

“What, like it’s not true.” She winked at Hinata. “He is just shy.”

“I know, ma’am,” Hinata said and earned himself a glare from Kageyama, who threw a pair of shoes at him hard enough to almost knock him over.

Kageyama’s room was undoubtedly, well, Kageyama’s - there was a stack of magazines next to the bed, and a few worn-down volleyballs. The walls were bare too, cream-white.

Hinata glanced at Kageyama and tentatively sat down at the edge of the bed. Kageyama said nothing so Hinata settled more comfortably.

They both froze when they heard scratching at the doors. There was a tiny meow and finally Kageyama got up.

As soon as the doors cracked open, a small black kitten shot inside, stopping abruptly when it saw Hinata.

They regarded each other. Kitten decided to act like nothing unusual happened and walked slowly the length of the room, still keeping an eye on Hinata.

“I didn’t know you had a cat.”

“My parents got her a month ago.”

Hinata slowly slid to the floor, sitting with his legs folded. The kitten watched him. “What’s her name?”

Kageyama didn’t respond for a few seconds. When Hinata glanced at him, Kageyama looked sour. He finally rubbed the back of his head. “Snowflake.”

“But she is black.”

Kageyama grimaced. “I know.”

The kitten strutted in Hinata’s direction, stopping an arm’s length away, and pretended to look out of the window. Hinata smothered a snicker and waited.

Snowflake finally swished her tail. She closed the remaining distance with hard determination, carefully sniffing at Hinata’s hand when he offered it.

He smiled when she rubbed her head on his fingers.

“She’ll be distracting. I’d better throw her out,” Kageyama said, already reaching for her. She bristled her back and leaped - straight into Hinata’s lap. Kageyama froze.

“Let her stay.” Hinata scratched her under the chin. Her low, soft purring made him smile even wider. “She is nice.”

There was a knock. “Tobio, I brought you tea.”

Kageyama’s mom looked delighted when she saw Hinata and Snowflake. “They say you can’t be a bad person if the cats like you.”

“Does she like Kageyama?” Hinata asked.

“She doesn’t sleep anywhere else but on his bed.”

“Mom!”

She laughed. “And, Tobio - your dad came back; would you go help him unpack the groceries?”

“I’ll help too,” Hinata said, ready to get up.

“No, it’s alright, we’re not going to make a guest help out around the house.”

Left alone in the room with Hinata, Kageyama’s mom waited until they heard Kageyama walk down the stairs. She turned to Hinata. “I feel I should thank you. Tobio- I think he had a hard time for a while, but he started changing lately. And since he mentions you and your team so much, it could be your influence. Thank you, Hinata-kun. You don’t even know how much better Tobio is doing now.”

Hinata cocked his head. “But he did it all on his own.”

She blinked, surprised. “I suppose- I suppose you might be right.”

 

Three hours later it came out Kageyama was right - Snowflake was indeed very distracting. They got nothing done.

“Good thing Yachi doesn’t have cram school tomorrow,” Hinata said, pulling on his shoes. “We’ll catch up then.”

“Yeah.”

Snowflake meowed when he got up to leave, so he gave her an obligatory head scratch.

“See you tomorrow,” he said to Kageyama. Kageyama nodded.

The night was surprisingly cold and Hinata shivered as he pedalled back to home.

 

The classroom was steamy. Most of his classmates evacuated during lunch break, so Hinata did the same. The quiet spot behind the gym welcomed him with cool, even if still, air.

He hadn’t noticed Kageyama approaching until a pair of shoes stopped right in front of him. Kageyama sat down next to him and sighed; the heat was wearing down on him too. A shine of perspiration gleamed on Kageyama’s forehead and neck.

Hinata cleared his throat. “You have-” he said and motioned at his forehead. There was a tiny maple leaf on Kageyama’s hair. Kageyama frowned, confused, so Hinata motioned again. “Leaf, on your head.”

Kageyama combed his hand through his hair, missing the leaf completely. HInata tsked and leaned forward; the leaf spiraled as it fell on the grass, brushed off by Hinata’s fingers.

Closer to Kageyama than he remembered ever being, Hinata noticed a detail that might have otherwise gone undiscovered. “You have really long eyelashes,” he said, thoughtful.

He felt more than he saw Kageyama inhale. Kageyama’s eyes widened and he stilled.

Hinata sat back. His lunchbox and his knees and the grass swam when he looked at them. Hinata’s skin felt hot and two sized too tight.

 

They ended practice early just because Noya wanted to make sure they could buy all the meatbuns before the baseball club had a chance to get there. Hinata was starting to think Noya had a personal feud with the whole baseball team.

He started reading a comic at the store and didn’t even notice when most of the team left.

“Oi.”

Hinata jumped when a meatbun appeared out of nowhere centimeters from his face. Kageyama stood a step away, holding it out, looking grumpy.

“What-”

“It’s for you,” Kageyama said. He turned to leave when Hinata took it.

Hinata thrusted the comic back into the rack and waved at the shop clerk. Kageyama walked so quickly it took Hinata until the railroad crossing to catch up.

They were both forced to stop when the light started flashing red and the barrier started to come down.

In the distance, the train wheezed.

“Thanks,” Hinata said. Kageyama nodded.

The ground was shaking the closer the train was getting. Hinata swallowed and reached for Kageyama’s hand.

When he looped their fingers together, his heart fell still beneath his ribs. It started hammering again when Kageyama squeezed.

The train sped past, clamoring. Kageyama’s cheek, and neck, and even the top of his palm, they were all dusted red.

 

**Author's Note:**

> just a short little thing  
> if you spot any mistakes, please don't hesitate to point them out!


End file.
